Daily Record (Kansas City, MO) articles from April 2008

Daily Record (Kansas City, MO) archives from April 2008

Both sides seek new trial in legal malpractice case.
April 1, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese Thompson Coburn, one of Missouri's largest law firms, has been found guilty by an Illinois jury of legal malpractice and ordered to pay millions to a bank client, but that's not the last word on the subject. Regions...

St. Louis seeks federal ruling on eminent domain mural.
April 1, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter The city of St. Louis wants a federal judge to order property owner Jim Roos to paint over a year-old mural he commissioned to protest the city's use of eminent domain to take his property. The controversial...

Missouri Supreme Court rules prosecutor can't go after former client.
April 2, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey A county prosecutor should be barred from trying drug charges against a woman because he previously represented the woman in a similar case, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. The high court unanimously decided...

Court limits use of old photos on state offender registry in Missouri -- sort of.
April 2, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Missouri sex offenders convicted prior to a 1995 registration law cleared a legal hurdle to keep their registration photos off a state Web site. But their victory might be meaningless as long as the state can find...

Missouri Supreme Court ends suit over clergy abuse.
April 2, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese The state Supreme Court has ended a man's lawsuit claiming sexual abuse by a member of the clergy, saying the time in which to file suit had expired. Robert Visnaw sued in 2006, claiming former Marianist Brother William...

Commentary: A little lesson in humility for a new bar member.
April 2, 2008... Byline: Leslie A. Farfour Jr. When I made my first courtroom appearance in Cleveland County, N.C., I fell victim to what I found out later was a continuing prank played on new attorneys by one of the more experienced attorneys in our bar....

Same-sex case seeks to establish jurisdiction in Missouri.
April 3, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey A northwest Missouri judge will consider an annulment request for a Massachusetts same-sex marriage. The results of the annulment petition could set a president in Missouri, a state that doesn't recognize same-sex...

Kansas City lawyer gets $18M in helicopter crash suit.
April 3, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A Kansas City lawyer secured a multi-million dollar settlement for the families of three people killed in a 2002 medical helicopter crash in Nebraska. Gary Robb, of Robb & Robb, said on Wednesday that an $18.4...

Commentary: A little planning makes travel much easier.
April 3, 2008... Byline: Christine Ann Hughes I'm a little frazzled, apprehensive, nervous, tired, overwhelmed and excited. Winter is gone. Spring is officially here, and I am preparing for a 10-day tour of Israel. As I write this, I will leave in two...

Attorney wins $2 million from Kansas City.
April 4, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A lawyer who sued Kansas City for race discrimination during the municipal judicial selection process received more than $2 million from a jury on Thursday. Melissa Howard, a prosecutor in Clay County, claimed city...

Federal Findings: Juries find for Kansas City police in similar brutality cases.
April 4, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey The Missouri Attorney General's office scored a pair of defense verdicts this week in two strikingly similar police brutality cases. Both of the federal lawsuits involved Kansas City police officers entering Jackson...

Award honors Kansas City Metropolitan Crime Commission.
April 4, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey John Wood, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, gave the 2008 Crystal Kipper & Ali Kemp Memorial Award to the Kansas City Metropolitan Crime Commission on Wednesday. The annual award is given to...

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: April 7, 2008.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A Kansas City man who sought tens of millions of dollars for injuries he sustained diving into a shallow pool is asking a judge to grant him a new trial. But an attorney for the defense said on Friday the motion is...

8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sentences Lisa Montgomery to death.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey Lisa Montgomery will begin her appeal process with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after a judge officially sentenced her to death Friday. Montgomery, 40, was convicted by a jury in October for killing a...

Portion of suit against Missouri governor and staff moved to Jefferson City.
April 8, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Scott Eckersley is going back to Jefferson City. A judge transferred part of the lawsuit by the former staff attorney for Gov. Matt Blunt to Cole County from Jackson County last week. However, Eckersley's...

Tourist attraction must accept deal its lawyer said it never made, rules St. Louis Circuit Court.
April 8, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter An agreement is an agreement -- and St. Louis Union Station Holdings agreed to accept $220,000 for the early termination of The Discovery Channel Store's lease, according to a St. Louis Circuit Court judge. On Friday,...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: April 8, 2008.
April 8, 2008... Byline: Betsy Lee American Family Mutual Insurance Co. is seeking a judgment notwithstanding the verdict or a new trial after a jury entered a nearly $400,000 judgment against the company earlier this year. A Platte County jury awarded...

Missouri's federal judge nominees moving forward.
April 9, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. is well-qualified to be a federal judge but David Gregory "Greg" Kays did not get as strong a recommendation from the American Bar Association committee that rates judicial nominees. Limbaugh,...

Resentencing remanded for a redo, Missouri Court of Appeals Western District rules.
April 9, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck The appellate court agrees it could have handled the matter better. But an order is an order. The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District ruled Tuesday that a Jackson County man must be sentenced for a third time on...

Founders of life science law firm in St. Louis close up shop.
April 9, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole Two attorneys who launched a St. Louis life sciences intellectual property firm a year and a half ago have called it quits. Kevin Buckley and Tara Nealey are winding down Biotactica after issues with funding,...

Allstate releases claims records after long fight in Jackson County Court.
April 9, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick It's unclear how the disclosure will affect local contempt order Allstate Insurance Co. has gone public with records the insurer once said it would never give up. The company is incurring a daily fine of...

Missouri lawmakers seek way out of Aquila power plant fiasco.
April 10, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey Missouri lawmakers heard passionate testimony Wednesday on a bill that would essentially overturn previous court rulings that a controversial Kansas City-area power plant was built illegally. The Missouri House's...

Kansas City lawyer faces reprimand after failing to file suit.
April 10, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A Kansas City lawyer facing a public reprimand argued that there is no evidence that he ever violated any ethics rules. In fact, Larry Delano Coleman told the Supreme Court on Wednesday, he acted properly, and his...

Does right to confront apply in penalty phase? Missouri Supreme Court to decide.
April 10, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Criminal defendants have the right to confront their accusers during the guilt phase of trials, but should they have the same right in the penalty phase? The Missouri Supreme Court took up that question for the first...

Missouri circuit court rules for union in pay fight.
April 11, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese The state has been ordered to provide $4.1 million in back pay to probation and parole officers for a raise denied them in 2004. Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan ruled in 2005 that denial of their raise, which...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: April 11, 2008.
April 11, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey A Kansas City federal jury awarded a southwestern Missouri man $375,000 for damages in a personal injury lawsuit. Elmer Connelly was injured when a tractor trailer collided with his truck on U.S. Highway 71 near Lamar...

Injured railroad worker gets $2.3M settlement from BNSF in St. Louis Circuit Court.
April 11, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese An injured railroad worker has reached a nearly $2.3 million settlement with the railroad in St. Louis Circuit Court. Thomas Joe Carney sued Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co. in August 2005 over injuries he...

Baxter's tainted heparin killed mother and son, family alleges.
April 11, 2008... Byline: Justin Blum, Bloomberg News Bonnie Hubley, 65, died in December. A month later, so did her 47-year-old son. Both suffered from an inherited kidney disease, and relatives at first assumed they died from years of health complications....

State appellate branch not a court of last resort.
April 14, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter The Missouri Court of Appeals is not a court of last resort, a federal appeals court said. In so doing, the court overturned a nine-year-old precedent that temporarily tolled the statute of limitations for federal...

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: April 14, 2008.
April 14, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick The attorney for a Lathrop man plans to challenge a $1,500 award his client received from a Jackson County jury last week. Timothy Davis had to spend $15,000 to surgically repair his thumb after it was injured in a...

Commentary: April is the growing season, even for finances.
April 14, 2008... Byline: Craig Napier It's that time of year again. The flowers are struggling out of the ground, the grass is trying to go green without any help from Al Gore, and your faithful small time lawyer-columnist comes to the precipice once again...

Missouri House gives first-round approval to court-selection changes.
April 15, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese The House gave initial approval to a proposed amendment Monday to revamp the way Missouri picks judges for its highest courts. The measure by Rep. Stanley Cox, R-Sedalia, would change the makeup of the Appellate...

McDonald's employees in Missouri say they aren't paid for all work.
April 15, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey It might be a McJob, but some McDonald's employees want their McOvertime. A class action lawsuit against the fast-food giant alleges Missouri employees were not compensated for all the hours worked on and off the...

U.S. Supreme Court turns down Kansas City case.
April 15, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a Kansas City lawsuit that led to $6,000 in sanctions against a pro se litigant. Michael D. Van Deelen sued a number of Kansas City officials in 2004 for allegedly...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: April 15, 2008.
April 15, 2008... Byline: Betsy Lee Depositions in a Clay County wrongful death lawsuit will progress after attorneys hammered out details in a motion hearing last week. The wrongful death suit, Emelie K. Kruse v. Ashton Court Healthcare, was filed on...

Lawyers in Missouri House give mixed support for court plan changes.
April 16, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese Some attorney members of the Missouri House helped a proposal to overhaul Missouri's judicial selection system win first-round approval. The proposed constitutional change, HJR49, is sponsored by Rep. Stanley Cox, a...

Trial by ire in Jackson County Circuit Court.
April 16, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Judge strikes Allstate pleadings, forbids evidence in attempt to enforce order A Jackson County judge took the next step in an attempt to get Allstate Insurance Co. to obey his orders: He'll make them sit idle...

Missouri Supreme Court has no taste for Diet Coke class action.
April 16, 2008... Byline: Allison Retka The Missouri Supreme Court has shut down a Kansas City woman's effort to bring a class action lawsuit against the Coca-Cola Co. for a sugar substitute used by the beverage giant. The potential class for Diana...

Missouri Supreme Court upholds workers' comp conviction.
April 16, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A corporate president was rightfully convicted for failing to carry workers' compensation insurance, the Missouri Supreme Court said Tuesday. Robert Salter, president of Housecalls Inc. in Olivette, was convicted of...

Missouri executions remain uncertain.
April 17, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Ruling on lethal injection won't bring quick state court decisions The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Kentucky's use of lethal injection to execute its prisoners, but court watchers in Missouri say the decision leaves...

Company sues Kansas City over lost vendor deal.
April 17, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A quarrel in City Hall regarding the contracting process is moving to the courtroom. On Wednesday, Perfect Output sued Kansas City and Ricoh Business Corp., claiming it suffered millions of dollars in damages when a...

Neighbors in suburban Parkville at odds in odd case.
April 17, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Defamation suit marks seventh anniversary of woman's murder Last week marked a somber anniversary for the family of Marsha Carson, whose life tragically ended seven years earlier. Carson, a 54-year-old real...

Court plan revamp fails in Missouri House.
April 18, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese The House has rejected a proposed state constitutional amendment that would alter the way judges are chosen for the state's highest courts. In a surprise result that potentially puts the issue to rest for this year, the...

Kansas City Council selects Bland as municipal judge.
April 18, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick With the appointment of Ardie Bland on Thursday, the Kansas City Municipal Court moved closer to filling its bench. But before the Kansas City Council will consider filling another vacant judgeship, several members...

Federal Findings: Man accused of threatening Kansas City federal judges freed.
April 18, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey A man accused of threatening to kill three Kansas City federal judges has been deemed incompetent to stand trial and will soon be released. This wasn't the first time Craig O. Copley landed in custody for making...

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon seeks execution dates for four additional inmates.
April 18, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon on Thursday asked the Missouri Supreme Court to set execution dates for four inmates. Nixon's motions come a day after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a case out of Kentucky that...

Recalled grout sealant again draws suits against KC company from across country.
April 22, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick More than two years after being recalled, a do-it-yourself grout sealant is again the subject of product liability lawsuit. And once more in the middle of the allegations is a now-dissolved Kansas City company that...

State budget offers little to stop Missouri public defender case freeze.
April 22, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese With hope dwindling for help from state or city leaders, the state public defender system is warning courts and lawyers to brace for June. That's when the public defender system plans to shut off certain...

Notes from the Northland: Interest sought on $2M verdict over court job.
April 22, 2008... Byline: Betsy Lee A woman who successfully sued Kansas City for race discrimination during its municipal judicial selection process is requesting pre- and post-judgment interest on her $2.1 million jury award. A Platte County jury awarded...

U.S. Supreme Court ends appeal of Jackson County man on death row.
April 22, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the appeal of Jackson County man on death row. Michael A. Taylor was one of 11 men whose death sentence appeal was rejected by the high court Monday. He was sentenced to death for raping...

Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys blasts survey of states' litigation climates.
April 23, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese A big business group's latest survey of corporate lawyers ranks Missouri's litigation climate in the middle, 31st of 50 states, a few notches better than last year. But the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys...

Richmond sees big week for settled lawsuits.
April 23, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey Two unrelated federal lawsuits in recent days have netted a combined $550,000 for litigants in Richmond, pop. 6,052. In a civil case filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office, owners of several rental properties in the...

Discrimination suit nets K.C. woman $31K.
April 23, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey A federal jury sided with a Kansas City woman who claimed she was mandated to pay higher health insurance premiums than younger employees. The jury awarded the woman $31,000 in damages after a four-day trial earlier...

Voting groups sue Missouri Dept. of Social Services over decline in registrations.
April 24, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey A national nonprofit group is suing the Missouri Department of Social Services for allegedly breaking the law by not registering low-income clients to vote. The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or...

Anti-bleeding drug lawsuits consolidated in Miami.
April 24, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Clayton-based Carey & Danis is poised to serve in a leadership role managing the multidistrict litigation against Bayer over its anti-bleeding drug Trasylol. The law firm filed eight lawsuits with the federal court in...

Second Injury Fund reform chances fade in Missouri Senate.
April 25, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter State Rep. Steve Hunter is bound and determined to push through the House a bill overhauling the Second Injury Fund -- even though a complete overhaul has virtually no chance of passing in the Senate. The version of...

U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee sends Kays, Limbaugh to Senate floor.
April 25, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday unanimously voted to send the nominations of Judges David Gregory "Greg" Kays and Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. to the full Senate for a confirmation vote. Kays is the nominee...

Federal Findings: Parole term reduction comes too late.
April 25, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey The saying "better late than never" must have new meaning for Odell A. Nelson. Nelson's 11-year federal pro se appeal to reduce his parole time was officially granted this week. One problem: Nelson wrongly served six...

Missouri Supreme Court considers bipolarity in attorney discipline case.
April 25, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese The Supreme Court is considering whether mental illness should be reason enough to set a different standard for an attorney who took money from client accounts for personal use, but later repaid it. The Office of Chief...

Missouri Governor Blunt touts effects of tort reform.
April 25, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck Gov. Matt Blunt toured the state Thursday to tout the effects of the Legislature's tort reforms undertaken in 2005. During stops in Kansas City and St. Louis, Blunt, who made tort reform one of his priorities his first...

Commentary: Learning what they don't teach in law school.
April 28, 2008... Byline: Craig Napier Last week was bizarre. We can all file it under "They don't teach you that in law school." One year ago I took a $1.5 million judgment against a man and his business. He was served and ignored it. My client had been...

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: April 28, 2008.
April 28, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A Kansas City lawyer in the Missouri House wants a Jackson County judge to disqualify his challenger before the upcoming primary election. And if Rep. Michael Talboy gets a judgment in his favor, he would run...

On a roll.
April 28, 2008... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record

Missourians seek class action suit over vehicle repossessions.
April 28, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick After having their vehicles repossessed, thousands of Missourians are now driving a lawsuit against an Illinois credit union for allegedly violating consumer protection laws. Meadows Credit Union, based in the...

Homeless vets in St. Louis get help for their legal troubles.
April 29, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter One by one St. Louis Municipal Judge Lisl King Williams called the seven defendants up to the bench Friday afternoon. Each man who stood before her asked for mercy. And, with the cooperation of the St. Louis City...

Missouri voter ID doubtful this year.
April 29, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck Despite the U.S Supreme Court's approval of a voter photo-identification law in Indiana, Missouri seems unlikely to have such a provision back on the books anytime soon. State Rep. Stanley Cox, R-Sedalia, said Monday...

Kansas City attorneys file motion for attorney's fees in Melissa Howard case.
April 29, 2008... Byline: Betsy Lee Kansas City attorneys in a successful $2.1 million employment discrimination lawsuit are seeking more than $225,000 in fees. Mark Jess, who represented Melissa Howard, filed a motion April 23 to collect attorney's fees...

Trial postponed in employment discrimination case involving Platte County accountant's assistant.
April 29, 2008... Byline: Betsy Lee A case involving a Platte County accountant's assistant will have to wait until August for a trial. The case of Irene Delich vs. Scott McRuer, CPA, filed in June 2006, was scheduled for trial April 28. The trial was...

Dean of University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law draws DNA duty again.
April 30, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick UMKC's Ellen Suni returns to state Supreme Court for exoneration case Huntley Ruff has spent the past 20 years of his life in prison, convicted of raping a woman at a Kansas City hotel where he worked as a...

$1.5 million case in St. Louis forgotten for six years.
April 30, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese Judge finally rules after cleaning out her office St. Louis Judge Evelyn Baker was preparing to retire late last month when a clerk told her about a little unfinished business. In cleaning out her office, the clerk...

'Is this a dagger which I see before me?' Maybe not in opinion from Mo. COA Western District.
April 30, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey An appellate court overturned a felony assault conviction because prosecutors failed to show the victim was attacked with a "dagger." The unanimous decision calls for legislative "guidance" and could persuade...

Missouri Supreme Court rules Blue Springs not liable for inverse condemnation claim.
April 30, 2008... Byline: Aaron Bailey The Missouri Supreme Court rejected a Blue Springs couple's inverse condemnation claim, saying they failed to prove how the city allegedly harmed their land. In the unanimous decision Tuesday, the court found no...

Without a ruling, stem cell ballot measure in Missouri could be lost.
April 30, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick It's what an appellate court didn't do on Tuesday that could handcuff one Missouri group challenging a constitutional amendment. On its weekly hand down date on Tuesday, the Missouri Court of Appeals Western...